Lamb Marinade – How to Make the Best Ever Lamb Marinade

This Lamb Marinade is bright and delicious, it’s the perfect way to season your lamb and it’s only few ingredients that you probably already have on hand!

Lamb is something I didn’t grow up eating, but have come to absolutely love. This lamb marinade is perfect for any cut of lamb, not just lamb steaks like we have pictured here. It makes a great lamb chop marinade as well, or leg of lamb, or roast, or hey – any lamb.

Lamb is a gamier meat with intense flavor of it’s own, so I find really clean and bold flavors work beautifully with it. The lemon and garlic in this marinade recipe seem like a lot, but they don’t overpower the lamb – instead they compliment it!

What is a good marinade for lamb chops?

I love lemon and garlic for lamb chops, and all cuts of lamb. The lemon brightens the deep gamey flavor of the meat, and garlic compliments the lemon, making a more complex and delicious flavors.

How do you marinate lamb steaks?

Place lamb steaks, or other cut of lamb meat in a bowl or plastic ziploc. Cover tcompletely with marinade, then cover or seal and refrigerate. If possible, turn the meat once, halfway through marinating.

How long do you marinate lamb?

Rule of thumb for marinating lamb steaks and other cuts of lamb is to aim for at least three hours in the marinade. The absolute minimum we would suggest is one hour, and you can marinate lamb up to 24 hours.

What red wine is good with lamb?

We are of the school that you drink what you like with your meal. So if you want a light and fruity wine, go for it! If you prefer a deeper dry red, then by all means. That said, lamb is a strongly flavored meat and so traditionally, it pairs well with a robust full bodied red wine like a Cabernet.

I’m a huge fan of using the stick blender to pull this marinade together, because we usually only make small batches when we’re ready to use them. But if I were going to make a large batch for a party or to save some for another time, then I would go ahead and use my upright blender.

You’ll find that when you add the ingredients to your blender, they look yellow, but a moment or two after you turn it on, the marinade will turn white! This is because the oil is emulsifying. Meaning, the fat is being broken apart and spreading evenly throughout the liquid. It makes the marinade lighter in color, but also somewhat creamy in texture.

Check out these Amazon affiliate links for items we use or love in this lamb marinade!

Santuko knife – My favorite knife! These usually run in the $15 – $25 range and they’re just great. Perfect size and shape for comfortable cutting. Easy to sharpen, and we love that they’re colorful.

Garlic press – If you hate mincing garlic by hand (whyyyyyy does it take so long?!), this is the tool for you. Just pop the clove in and give it a squeeze. So easy!

Stick blender – I basically use this every day. Often two or three times. Perfect for marinades, salad dressings, soups, puddings, smoothies, you name it. And a total space saver if you don’t have room for a full upright mixers.

Upright blender – The stick blender is amazing, but for large batches, I adore my my upright blender. This one is a total workhorse and does a damn fine job of blending. It’s also reasonably priced. Yay!

End grain cutting board– This cutting board is so pretty. When we’re not using it (which is barely ever), it sits on the island in my kitchen because we just love looking at it so much.

6 Burner gas grill – This was our gift to each other for Christmas last year and it has changed my life. I was worried six burners would be overkill, but it’s so nice to have room to do everything at once.

Make sure to check out my entire Foodie Gift Guide for cooking gift ideas for all kitchens and budgets!

The reason I like to blend my marinades – or, emulsify, as it were – is to make sure the meat is being seasoned evenly. We don’t want all the garlic on one end, and the pepper on the other. We want to make sure the marinade flavors are hitting the lamb in the same way all over.

If you love this lamb marinade recipe, make sure to check out these other great recipe ideas!

Best shrimp marinade ever– If you’re not in the mood for lamb, this shrimp marinade is fast and delicious. Make it on the grill or stove top – or even a quick broil in the oven! You won’t regret trying this, it will be a new quick dinner staple.

The best flank steak marinade – Have I mentioned how much we love a good marinade? This steak marinade is great on flank steak – and, honestly any steak at all.

Lamb Marinade

This lemony garlic marinade is the perfect way to make any cut of lamb sing. Marinate at least one hour before cooking, but as long as overnight! If you're grilling, make sure to reserve some marinade for basting.

Course
Marinade, Sauce

Cuisine
American

Prep Time2minutes

Total Time2minutes

Servings4

Ingredients

1/4cupolive oil

1/2cuplemon juice

1large head of garlicabout 12 large cloves, peeled

1teaspoonsalt

1/2teaspoonpepper

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. I like to use my immersion blender, but an upright would work well too.

Use half for marinade, and reserve second half for basting, dipping, and dressing.

Makes about 1 cup of marinade.

Enjoy!

You may also enjoy:

Lamb Marinade, Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 large head of garlic (about 12 large cloves), peeled

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Lamb Marinade, Directions:

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. I like to use my immersion blender, but an upright would work well too.

Use half for marinade, and reserve second half for basting, dipping, and dressing.

Comments

Lamb is one of my favorite meats as well! I have never made lamb steaks before but definitely the chops and rack of lamb. I completely agree that these flavors really compliment the delicious and unique flavor of the meat and can’t wait to try this soon!